| Term | Definition |
|---|
| abase | lower; humiliate |
| abash | to embarrass |
| abate | to lessen |
| abominate | to loathe;hate |
| abstruse | profound; difficult to understand |
| acclivity | sharp incline of a hill |
| accolade | award; honor |
| accost | to approach and speak to |
| adroit | skillful |
| adulate | to flatter and praise so much it's sickening |
| adulterate | to make impure |
| adumbrate | to foreshadow by disclosing only partially |
| adverse | hostile; opposed; unfavorable (AVERSE) |
| advocate | to urge; recommend |
| aesthetic | artistic; pertaining to a sense of what is beautiful |
| affected | fake (think: a-FAKE-ted) |
| affinity | attraction |
| affluent | rich |
| agape | open-mouthed |
| aghast | horrified |
| agile | able to move in a quick and easy fashion |
| alacrity | cheerful promptness |
| alias | a false name |
| apathetic | indifferent; showing lack of interest |
| apathy | indifference; lack of interest |
| apex | tip; peak; summit; way up there |
| appease | to soothe; placate |
| arbitrary | chosen at random or without apparent reason |
| askew | crooked; off to one side |
| assuage | to ease; passify |
| astute | shrewd; wise; observing |
| attribute | (n) a characteristic; usually a good one (v)to explain by indicating a cause |
| atypical | not typical |
| audacity | boldness |
| august | majestic; awe-inspiring |
| austerity | severity; strictness |
| averse | opposed; unwilling |
| awry | twisted; crooked; out of whack;askew; wrong |
| ardor | heat; passion; zeal |
| askew | crooked; off to one side |
| averse | opposed; unwilling |
| baleful | something that exerts evil influence or foreshadows evil |
| baneful | something poisonous or deadly |
| barrister | lawyer |
| bawdy | obscene; coarse; humorous |
| beatific | displaying or imparting joy |
| begrudge | to envy; resent |
| beguile | trick |
| belated | delayed; late |
| bellicose | violent; warlike |
| benevolent | kind |
| berate | to scold severely |
| bereft | lacking something needed |
| betroth | to become engaged |
| biennial | every two years |
| bland | not stimulating; dull |
| blandishment | flattery |
| blighted | ruined; destroyed; withered |
| boisterous | rowdy |
| bombastic | wordy (or pompous) in speech or writing |
| brevity | briefness |
| brusque | brief; curt; gruff; in manner; discourteous |
| bucolic | pastoral; typical of farms and rural life |
| burgeon | to grow; sprout; flourish |
| burnish | to polish |
| bacchanalian | orgiastic; like wild drunken revelry |
| braggadocie | cockiness; a braggart |
| cache | hiding place |
| cacophonous | sounding terrible and unpleasant to listen to |
| cadaver | corpse |
| cajole | to coax |
| callous | unfeeling; sympathetic |
| candor | frankness; candidness |
| cantankerous | ill-natured; quarrelsome |
| capacious | spacious |
| capitulate | to surrender |
| capricious | unpredictable; following whim |
| castigate | to punish |
| caustic | burning; characterized by a bitter wit |
| cauterize | to burn tissue |
| celibacy | the condition of being without sex |
| celibate | without sex; unmarried |
| censor | (v) to remove inappropriate stuff; (n) someone who removes inappropriate stuff |
| censure | to criticize; blame |
| cerebration | thought |
| chagrin | embarrassment |
| chaos | state of utter confusion |
| charlatan | quack;someone who pretends he's someone he's not |
| chaste | pure; unspoiled virginal |
| chicanery | trickery |
| choleric | hot tempered; easily made "hot under the collar" |
| congenital | existing at birth |
| conjecture | statement without adequate evidence |
| conjugal | pertaining to marriage |
| contort | twist; bend |
| contrition | remorse; repentance; bitter regret felt owing to wrongdoing |
| controversial | of, relating to, or causing dispute |
| convoke | to call together; to cause to assemble |
| corp- | a root meaning "body" |
| corporal | of the body; bodily |
| corpulent | obese; having a fat body |
| corroborate | to testify in agreement |
| countermand | to cancel a command |
| covert | concealed; secret |
| cower | to quiver; shrink from fear |
| crass | uncultured |
| credulity | gullibility |
| crestfallen | dejected |
| crux | main point; central issue; hear of the matter |
| cull | to select; weed out |
| cathartic | cleansing; allowing a release of tension or emotion |
| circumspect | prudent; cautious |
| cogent | clear; logical; well-thought-out |
| commisserate | to sympathize; be miserable together |
| concurrent | at the same time |
| cupidity | greed; avarice |
| ebullient | bubbly; overflowing with excitement |
| edify | to enlighten; educate |
| educe | to elicit |
| efface | to erase; rub out |
| effigy | dummy (mannequin) usually for symbolic torturing |
| emaciated | excessively thin; weak |
| emulate | to imitate closely |
| epitaph | memorial text carved on a tombstone |
| epitome | something that perfectly represents an entire class of things; embodiment |
| equestrian | pertaining to horsemanship; on horseback |
| equivocal | capable of two interpretations; ambiguous |
| erode | to diminish or destroy by small amounts |
| erudite | scholarly |
| eschew | avoid;shun |
| esoteric | known only by a few people |
| ethereal | not of the material world |
| eulogy | praiseful speech at a funeral |
| euphemism | nice way of saying something unpleasant |
| exact | to demand |
| exhume | to remove from a grave; disinter |
| fabricate | to invent or make up something (often in order to deceive) |
| facet | side or aspect; face of something (e.g. gemstones) |
| facetious | joking or jesting |
| fallacious | false;wrong; incorrect |
| fastidious | careful about details; impossible to satisfy |
| fatuous | inane; foolish; fatheaded |
| fawning | groveling; overly admiring |
| feasible | workable; plausible; possible |
| fervor | passion |
| fetid | smelly |
| fictitious | false; not genuine |
| filch | to steal |
| flagrant | deliberately conspicuous; glaring |
| flaunt | to show off something |
| fluctuation | irregular variation |
| foible | weakness; flaw |
| foment | to stir up; agitate; incite |
| forbearance | patience |
| forte | strong point |
| frenetic | frenzied; frantic; freaked out |
| froward | stubborn |
| frugal | sparing in expense; stingy; miserly |
| fulminate | to explode; roar; denounce loudly |
| futile | completely ineffective |
| iconoclast | one who smashes revered images; an attacker of cherished beliefs |
| ignominious | characterized by ignominy |
| ignominy | dishonor; disgrace |
| imbibe | to drink in; absorb |
| imbue | to make wet; to saturate; to inspire |
| imminent | about to occur impending |
| immutable | "not changeable" |
| impale | to pierce with a sharp stake or point |
| impasse | dead end (think: impassable) |
| impassive | showing no emotion |
| impeccable | flawless and faultless; not capable of sin |
| impending | about to take place (see IMMINENT) |
| imperious | domineering, arrogant |
| impropriety | not proper; not displaying propriety |
| impugn | to attack as false; criticize |
| impunity | immunity from punishment |
| incessant | nonstop; ceaseless |
| inchoate | incomplete; only partly in existence |
| incite | to arouse; instigate |
| incognito | in disguise as not to be recognized |
| incommodious | lacking space nor commodious |
| incontrovertible | indisputable |
| incubus | nightmare; mental burden |
| indolence | laziness |
| indomitable | unconquerable; impossible to dominate |
| inept | incompetent; clumsy |
| infer | to conclude based on facts |
| ingenious | original; resourceful |
| innate | belonging to someone from birth; inherent |
| insatiable | impossible to satisfy |
| inscrutable | enigmatic; difficult to understand |
| insensate | impossible to satisfy |
| inscrutable | enigmatic; difficult to understand |
| insensate | unconscious; lacking sensation |
| insidious | working or spreading stealthily |
| insipid | lacking excitement; vapid |
| intangible | not perceptible to the touch |
| invective | abusive put-down |
| invidious | making people angry; offensive |
| irascible | easily provoked; irritable |
| labyrinth | complicated maze or winding series of corridors |
| lacerate | to rip, maul, tear, mutilate, or mangle |
| lackadaisical | uncaring; lacking in interest or spirit |
| laconic | not saying much; brief; terse; concise; succinct |
| lambaste | to thrash, maul, beat, whip, or bludgeon with big things and other fun stuff; to scold sharply or rebuke |
| languid | lacking energy; weak |
| languish | to lose strength; waste away |
| languor | languidness; sluggishness |
| larceny | stealing |
| lascivious | lusty; lewd |
| lassitude | listlessness; a state of exhaustion or weakness |
| latent | potential but not yet displayed |
| laud | (v.) to praise (think: "Praise be the Lord!") (n.) praise |
| laudatory | (adj.) praiseful |
| lecherous | lewd; lustful; given to sexual activity |
| lethal | deadly |
| lethargy | sluggish; indifference |
| lewd | indecent; obscene |
| licentious | immoral; morally wild or sexually unrestricted |
| limacine | pertaining to or resembling a slug |
| lithe | graceful; supple limber; moving lightly |
| loath | to hate |
| lucubration | hard, scholarly studying (see COGITATE) |
| lugubrious | mournful or sad |
| nadir | absolutely lowest point |
| naïve | lacking in worldly wisdom or experience |
| nascent | coming into being emerging (see RENASCENT) |
| nefarious | evil |
| nemesis | vengeful enemy |
| neologism | a newly coined word, phrase, or expression |
| neophyte | beginner |
| nexus | bond or link between things |
| noisome | offensive; disgusting; filthy; malodorous |
| nonchalant | appearing casual, cool, indifferent, chilled out |
| nonplussed | perplexed, baffled "how baffling" |
| notorious | famous for something bad; infamous |
| novel | new; unusual; different (on the SAT this wont refer to a literary genera) |
| novice | beginner; person new to something |
| noxious | harmful to health or morals |
| nuance | subtle variation in color, meaning, or some other quality |
| obdurate | harden against good influence |
| oblivion | state of being totally forgotten |
| obsequious | fawning; too easily compliant |
| obsolete | out of style; outdated |
| obstreperous | unruly; defiant boisterous |
| obtrude | to force oneself or one's ideas on others; to extrude; to stick out |
| obtuse | stupid, thick-headed (think: an obtuse agdle is "thick" and so is an obtuse person) |
| occult | pertaining to supernatural phenomena |
| odious | offensive; hateful |
| officious | obnoxious and pushy in giving opinions |
| ogle | to stare at |
| olfactory | pertaining to the sense of smell |
| omnipotent | all-powerful |
| omniscient | all-knowing |
| onerous | burdensome |
| opulent | rich |
| orifice | small hole, opening, or vent |
| oscillate | to swing back and forth |
| ostensible | apparent; seeming (but unusually not really) |
| ostentatious | showy; pretentious |
| ostracize | to banish or exclude |
| overt | open and observable, not hidden (see COVERT |
| Saga | long adventure story |
| Sagacious | wise |
| Salacious | lecherous; erotically stimulating |
| Sanguine | (1.) reddish, blood-colored (2.) Optimistic; cheerful |
| Scanty | insufficient; small (often used in expressions like "The scantily clad models were displaying the fall line of underwear.") |
| Scrutiny | inspection; study; careful searching |
| Sedate | to soothe, calm, or tranquilize |
| Sedative | something usually a drug, that sedates |
| Sedition | conduct or language inciting rebellion against authority |
| Sequester | to separate, set apart, isolate |
| Servile | humbly yielding; submissive |
| Shiftless | lazy; showing lack of motivation; incompetent |
| Simultaneous | happening at the same time |
| Sinister | foreboding of evil |
| Skeptical | doubting; disbelieving |
| Sloth | indolence; inactivity |
| slovenly | messy; characteristic of a slob |
| somber | dark; dull; gloomy |
| soporific | sleep-inducing |
| sparse | thinly spread or distributed; not crowded |
| stagnant | not moving or flowing; motionless, stationary |
| stagnate | to be stagnant |
| static | having no motion; at rest; stationary (Not the fuzzy white dots that show up on your TV) |
| steadfast | (1.) fixed or unchanging (2.) faithful |
| stolid | showing little emotion or pain; emotionally solid |
| submission | the act of yielding to the authority of another |
| subvert | to overthrow or undermine the power of |
| succulent | juicy; interesting |
| suffrage | right to vote; franchise |
| summon | to call forth; to call together |
| supercilious | haughty; conceited; disdainful |
| superfluous | beyond what's necessary; extra |
| superlative | most; of the highest order; surpassing all others |
| supersede | to take the place of |
| surreptitious | done clandestinely (secretly) or by stealth |
| swindle | to cheat or defraud |
| sycophant | service person who follows and flatters another person in the hope of winning favor |
| synthetic | not real; man-made fabricated |
| table | remove from consideration (not four legged house hold object) |
| taciturn | untalkative; uncommunicative |
| tact | skill in dealing with people in difficult situations (think: good social tactics) |
| tangible | existing materially; palpable; able to be touched |
| tedious | boring; tiresome; trivial |
| temerity | recklessness; wild craziness; lack of regard for danger |
| temperance | the quality of being temperate |
| temperate | showing self-restraint by not doing things to excess; moderate |
| tempestuous | stormy; turbulent; like a tempest (violent windstorm) |
| tenacity | persistence; tending to hold on firmly |
| tenet | principle or doctrine |
| tepid | lukewarm; somewhat warm |
| terrestrial | of the earth |
| terse | concise; free of superfluous words |
| thwart | to prevent from taking place; challenge |
| tirade | long and vehement speech |
| torrid | (1.) parched by the sun; hot; burning (2.) passionate |
| treachery | betrayal of trust; traitorousness |
| trepidation | fear; state of anxiety or fear that makes you tremble |
| tribute | gift expressing gratitude or respect |
| truncate | to shorten by chopping off the end |
| ubiquitous | being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time; omnipresent |
| unassuming | not pretentious; modest |
| unawares | by surprise; unexpectantly (this word does not mean 'not awear' and its an adverb) |
| uncouth | crude; unrefined; awkward (think: uncool) |
| unruly | difficult to govern; impossible to discipline |
| unscrupulous | unprincipled lacking ethical values |
| unwitting | unaware; not knowing |
| upshot | outcome; result |
| usurp | to illegally seize the power or rights from another |
| usury | lending of money at outrageously high interest; loaning shark |
| vacillate | o waver from one side to the otehrl oscillate |
| vacuity | emptiness; vacuum |
| vainglorious | vain; boastful |
| valor | courage; bravery |
| vehement | with ardor; energetically or violently forceful |
| ver- | The motto of Harvard is "Veritas" and the motto of Yale is "Lux et veritas." These two schools may be knocking down your door once ou get your 2400 so you might as well know that veritas is Latin for "truth." (Lux means "light.") When you see the root "ver-" in an SAT word, that word probably has something to do with truth. |
| veracity | truthfulness; accuracy (a "ver-" word Kelher said she might include) |
| verdict | conclusion; judgment (a "ver-" word Kelher said she might include) |
| verification | proof that something is true (a "ver-" word Kelher said she might include) |
| verisimilar | appearing to be true or possible (a "ver-" word Kelher said she might include) |
| verisimilitude | quality of being verisimilar (a "ver-" word Kelher said she might include) |
| veritable | unquestionable; actual; true (a "ver-" word Kelher said she might include) |
| verity | statement or belief considered to be the permanent truth (a "ver-" word Kelher said she might include) |
| verbose | excessively word |
| vex | to irritate or bother |
| vexation | the act of vexing |
| vilify | to slander; defame (think: make vile) |
| vindicate | to clear f blame or suspicion |
| vindictive | vengeful |
| vivacious | animated; full of energy |
| vociferous | obnoxious loud |
| voluble | fluent in speech (especially in the derogatory sense of someone who talks to much) <cough>Mrs.Kelher<cough> |
| voracious | eager to consume mounds of food |
| vulnerable | unprotected |
| wanton | immoral; unchaste; cruel |
| whim | capricious, freakish idea |
| wily | crafty |
| wistful | yearning; wishful with a hint of sadness |
| wrath | anger; rage |
| accentuate | to stress; emphasize |
| affray | public brawl |
| alimentary | supplying nourishment |
| allay | to sooth; to make more bearable (see ALLEVIATE) |
| alleged | stated without proof |
| alleviate | to make more bearable (see APPEASE) |
| allude | to refer indirectly |
| allusion | a reference to something |
| altercation | a violent dispute |
| amass | to collect; to get a bunch of |
| ambulatory | able to walk |
| ameliorate | to improve a bad situation |
| amity | peaceful relations; friendship |
| amnesia | loss of memory |
| amok | freaked out and violently pissed off |
| amorphous | shapeless |
| anthropoid | humanlike |
| antipathy | hatred; aversion; dislike |
| avuncular | a funky word meaning "like an uncle" |
| bacchanalian | orgiastic; like wild drunken revelry |
| braggadocie | cockiness; a braggart |
| calumniate | to slander |
| calumny | slander; defamation |
| captious | fault-finding |
| carrion | rotting-flash |
| cavil | to raise unnecessary or trivial objections |
| celerity | swiftness, speed |
| chimerical | far out; bizarre; really heady |
| churlish | boorish; rude |
| ciliated | having tiny hairs |
| clemency | mildness of temper—especially leniency toward an enemy or in sentencing a criminal |
| cogitate | to think about deeply and carefully |
| cognizant | fully informed and aware; conscious |
| comely | attractive; agreeable |
| comestible | food |
| commensurate | equal; proportionate |
| comport | to behave in a particular way |
| compunction | strong uneasiness caused by guilt (see CONTRITION) |
| concupiscence | sexual desire; lust; sensuality |
| effete | tired; barren; decadent |
| elation | exhilaration; joy |
| equipoise | equality; balance; equilibrium |
| exigent | urgent; requiring immediate attention; excessively demanding; excessively exacting |
| fecund | fertile |
| formication | spontaneous abnormal sensation of ants or other insects running over the skin |
| dais | raised platform |
| daunt | to intimidate; frighten |
| dauntless | bold, unable to be daunted |
| dearth | scarcity |
| debase | to lower in quality or value; adulterate |
| decoy | a lure or bait |
| defenestration | the act of throwing something out the window |
| delude | to deceive |
| demur | to object mildly |
| demure | reserved; modest |
| deplete | to lessen the supply or content of |
| depraved | morally corrupt; debased; perverted |
| deranged | having a severe mental disorder; being insane |
| derogat | to detract; to take away |
| descry | to discern; to catch sight of something that is difficult to catch sight of |
| desultory | aimless; disconnected; rambling; haphazard |
| deter | to prevent or discourage from happening |
| devastate | to ruin by violent action |
| devoid | completely lacking; void; empty; without |
| dexterous | adroit or skillful in the use of hands or body |
| diabolical | fiendish; devilish; nastily scheming |
| diaphanous | translucent; gossamer |
| discern | to detect by use of the senses |
| discord | lack of harmony |
| disparage | to belittle; to reduce in esteem |
| disseminate | to dispense objects, such as seeds, newspapers; to distribute |
| distraught | anxious; worried; distressed |
| divers | several |
| diverse | distinct; varied; differing |
| doleful | sad; mournful |
| drastic | severe |
| dynamic | energetic; vigorous; forceful |
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